From: "Steve Case" 
Subject: (urth) A Thousand Ages
Date: Wed, 4 Sep 2002 17:43:26 -0500

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In chapel today (I go to a Christian university) we had our academic
convocation service and sang the hymn "Oh God, Our Help in Ages Past".
The fourth verse jumped out at me because it's the exact quote Wolfe
uses to start the Book of the New Sun at the beginning of Shadow of the
Torturer: "A thousand ages in thy sight/Are like an evening gone./Short
as the watch that ends the night/Before the rising sun."  The hymn says
it's based on Psalms 90, but I looked it up and the wording is different
enough that I bet Wolfe got the quote directly from the song.  I just
thought it was kind of interesting, and it made a boring service a
little more enjoyable.  I thought Wolfe was a Catholic; do Catholics
sing the same hymns Protestants do?  The other five verses don't hold a
lot of interest in regards to the Short Sun, except for verse five:
"Time, like an ever-rolling stream/Bears all its sons away./They fly
forgotten as a dream/Dies at the opening day."  That fits the book
rather nicely as well.
 
            My two cents for the month,
            -Steve
 


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In chapel today (I go to a
Christian university) we had our academic convocation service and sang =
the hymn
“Oh God, Our Help in Ages Past”.  The fourth verse jumped out at =
me
because it’s the exact quote Wolfe uses to start the Book of the =
New Sun
at the beginning of Shadow of the Torturer: “A thousand ages in =
thy
sight/Are like an evening gone./Short as the watch that ends the =
night/Before
the rising sun.”  The =
hymn
says it’s based on Psalms 90, but I looked it up and the wording =
is
different enough that I bet Wolfe got the quote directly from the =
song.  I just thought it was kind of
interesting, and it made a boring service a little more enjoyable.  I thought Wolfe was a Catholic; =
do Catholics
sing the same hymns Protestants do?  The other five verses =
don’t hold a lot
of interest in regards to the Short Sun, except for verse five: =
“Time, like
an ever-rolling stream/Bears all its sons away./They fly
forgotten as a dream/Dies at the opening day.”  That fits the book rather nicely =
as well.

 

        =
;    My
two cents for the month,

        =
;    -Steve

 







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